With patient support stretchers, it is desirable to have the patient at a height which is easily accessible by medical personnel standing by the stretcher. Additionally, it is desirable to have a stretcher which is low so that the patient can easily be placed on the stretcher. Typically, stretchers will employ hydraulic cylinders having very long rods to accomplish both of these desired results. By lowering the hydraulic cylinders, the patient can be positioned onto the stretcher and then by pumping the hydraulic cylinder, the patient can be raised to the desired height. However, the hydraulic cylinders that are employed are expensive and there is a rather long period of time required to pump the cylinder to raise the patient from the lower position to the desired higher position.
It is an object of the present invention, to make it possible for the medical personnel to merely pull the fowler portion back which raises the patient a portion of the required height. The remaining height can then be obtained by use of a smaller hydraulic cylinder which takes less time to raise the patient support to the desired height.